Choosing a meeting note-taker on a free plan

Free plans for meeting note-takers are not interchangeable. This guide compares what the official pricing pages say. We have not recorded meetings with these tools, so it covers limits, not accuracy.

Two different free-plan designs

Otter.ai’s Basic plan caps usage: 300 transcription minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation, 3 lifetime file imports and 25 recent conversations kept. Fathom’s free plan lists unlimited recordings and transcriptions, with instant AI call summaries.

Neither design is better in general. A capped plan can suit someone with a few short calls a week. An uncapped plan suits someone with many calls, if its other limits (for example which AI features are “limited use”) are acceptable.

Decide in five minutes

1. Add up the length of a typical week of meetings, then multiply by four. If any regular call runs beyond 30 minutes, Otter Basic’s per-conversation limit rules it out for that call.
2. Decide whether you only need a transcript, or also need AI action items and searchable history. Recording being unlimited does not establish that every AI feature is unlimited.
3. Run one consented, invented 10-minute test call. Check the transcript for names, numbers and decisions before you use it for real work.
4. If you may later pay, compare the first paid tier and any team minimum. Use the Otter.ai vs Fathom comparison for the documented plan differences.

Fireflies.ai: why there are no numbers here

Fireflies.ai lists a Free plan, but the pricing page text we could read gave no limits or prices, and third-party sources disagreed on its storage cap. Until we can read the official figures, we publish none.

What to check before you rely on a free plan

• Meeting length. Otter Basic stops at 30 minutes per conversation.
• History. Otter Basic keeps only the 25 most recent conversations.
• AI features. Chat queries and summary depth can be capped even when recording is unlimited.
• Consent. Recording captures other people. Tell participants and read each vendor’s data terms.
• Upgrade path. Note the first paid price: Otter Pro $16.99 monthly, Fathom Premium $20 monthly.

A safe first workflow

Keep a person between the transcript and any message sent to a client or colleague. Our reviewed meeting follow-up workflow shows the handoffs and manual checks. For the full prompt and quality checklist, read from call to a follow-up you can trust.

Related tools